


Not Today, Lucifer

by agustdswlw



Series: fics to make fanwars end [1]
Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Competition, Dancing, Eventual Smut, Hate Sex, Kim Namjoon | RM is So Done, Late Night Talk Shows, M/M, Park Jimin (BTS) is a Little Shit, Rivalry, Teasing, This Is For You, Unresolved Sexual Tension, for all the people who love one of these groups and hate the other, mwah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21862462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agustdswlw/pseuds/agustdswlw
Summary: BTS and SuperM are invited to have a dance-off on a late night talk show. Jimin gets into some trouble, and bonds are formed. Maybe dancing with the enemy was a bad idea.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Namjoon | RM, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Lee Taemin, Kim Jongin | Kai/Park Jimin (BTS), Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin
Series: fics to make fanwars end [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575019
Comments: 22
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is written from the perspective of a bts ult so superm stans/nctzens/exo-ls/shawols please let me know if i hurt your boys or characterized them wrong

The United States was a huge country, Hoseok thought. Absolutely massive. 

Not to mention New York was a huge city. Thousands of people traveled through it every day. 

So why the hell, the one time they came back to the US of A to perform at a couple of venues, was a group of people they knew also touring in their area?

Weren’t there enough media outlets and groups scrambling for western clout and online hits that they could at least spread out a little?

Hoseok knew it wasn’t a coincidence the so-called Avengers of K-pop were doing press rounds at the same time they were active. 

He remembers having this conversation with Namjoon, hearing him say that ‘other groups work just as hard as we do, we need to stay humble and respectful to those that came before us and those who will come after.’

He also remembers seeing the mess on Twitter some fans made when the announcement of SM’s supergroup was released. 

Seven boys. From EXO, NCT, WayV and SHINee. They’d picked their best for this one. So he’d heard.

He’d also heard the announcement from a shocked Seokjin that they were scheduled for a dance battle on Jimmy Kimmel Live. With SuperM. On network television. 

He could feel the cringe from the rest of the group at the inevitable ugly fanwar that this would ignite. 

“It’s all just for fun. Nobody should take this too seriously.” Namjoon said, trying to placate their anxieties. 

“I’m taking it seriously. These are our competitors, nothing wrong with a friendly dance battle!” Jungkook said, enthusiastic. 

“Some of them are your hyungs, we should treat them respectfully.” Jin chastises. 

“But aren’t we technically their sunbaenims-” Taehyung starts, “I mean they debuted after we did.”

“That… Now I’m confused.” Yoongi says. “They debuted individually at different times.”

Jimin points out a flaw. “This is an American TV show. They won’t understand or care about honorifics. They don’t have those here.” 

“Let’s just all promise to be respectful and professional, okay? We can do that.” Namjoon says, 

“Sure, if their company tells them to get off our dicks.” Hoseok grumbles. 

It’s Jimin who asks him what’s wrong. 

“Something… is off. They’re not what they seem.” he says, no source to back it up other than his gut. It wasn’t jealousy, Hoseok told himself. It wasn’t their constant concept of being sexy, hell, Hoseok felt bad for them, they were so restrained, couldn’t do anything other than look  _ ridiculously attractive. _

“They probably aren’t. They’re under SM, and they’re really controlling to their idols.” Namjoon says sadly, sighing about the circumstances of their industry. 

Hoseok rolled his eyes, glaring out the window like staring holes into the hotel skyscraper on the other side of the street would fix his problems.

It doesn’t, and they pull up to the studio with their staff with Hoseok still dealing with a knot of feelings he didn’t know how to deal with. 

Nothing bad was going to happen. There were too many people involved and too many careers at stake. 

He wondered what got both companies to agree to this event. Bighit didn’t really push them to interact with other groups, besides TXT, who they loved. 

So what was the motive here?

They entered the studio and began the tedious process of setting up sound equipment. Namjoon calls the team for a circle up.

“There’s an important choice to make here, we couldn’t get the tables and chairs for Dionysus into the studios, so we have to choose a song to go up against them with. They’re going with Jopping, so what do we want to perform to counter that?” he asks, looking around.

“Don’t we always do the Mic Drop Remix for American TV?” Jungkook asks, eager to shine. 

“Yeah, but we’re not allowed backup dancers. The stage is too small. So we wouldn’t be able to do the dance breaks.”

Jungkook pouts at Namjoon’s words, deflated. 

“What about Make it Right? Aren’t we promoting that song?” Taehyung asks. 

“That doesn’t have choreography.” Namjoon says, shaking his head.

“I’m going to go ahead and say Boy With Luv is not appropriate for a dance battle.” Yoongi says, trying to steer the conversation towards something productive.

“Right. We’re looking to battle, not woo.” Namjoon says, nodding.

“Okay… Blood, Sweat, and Tears?” Jimin says, eyes alight with mischief. 

Namjoon sighs. “Jimin, what did I  _ just _ say?”

“Not Today.” Hoseok states, looking up from the ground. 

Jin grimaces. “A little on the nose. Plus I have no lines.”

Jungkook, ever the generous maknae, pipes up with “You can have some of mine, hyung!”

Namjoon sighs, knowing this would be the best he’d get. 

“Fine. We can do Not Today. But you guys gotta behave. Any aggressive behavior from us towards them is going to be seen and used against us.” 

“So… be super extra nice and sweet to them? Right, hyung?” Jimin says, teasing.

“Do not hit on them, Park Jimin, I swear to the crab gods-”

They began setting up for their rehearsal, determined to win the eventual showdown.

Little did they know how much was in store for them.


	2. Chapter 2

“I hate SM Entertainment.” Ten says, dropping his head into his hands. 

“This is so dirty, do they know that most Americans only know one K-pop group and that putting them against us is just going to get us mistaken for them more?” Mark complains, having already been through that gauntlet before.

“It’s like everywhere we go in this country we have to preface what we say with ‘No, we aren’t BTS, please stop asking.’” Ten says, frustrated. 

The tour bus continues bumping along the New York road, reminding Mark of his time living here. It was a bit relaxing, being back in the States, but that quickly went away when he saw his band members struggling with English. Some of them, like Ten, already knew so many languages and Mark felt bad knowing they were in an unfamiliar environment, again. 

It wasn’t fair that they were all plucked from their groups and shoved into another, newer and shinier one. Mark missed his NCT members back in Korea. He hated how sudden this seemed, how SM kept this same crop of performers and reorganized them over and over again. 

What was the point of this being a new group anyway? Why were they supposed to be the Avengers of K-pop?

He loves performing for their fans and he loves his work, but the industry was something they all had a simmering hatred for.

He can’t stop his mind from drifting back to the things he’d seen on the internet, how SuperM was created to dethrone… them. 

The very same people they’d have to outperform in less than a week. 

The Bulletproof Boys. Bangtan Sonyeondan. BTS. 

Thinking about them made Mark nervous. What if they hated them? What if they thought SuperM hated them? Their fans were already fighting, accusing each other of cheating and bullying. The last thing he wanted was to make BTS fans mad. That was a bad, bad move.

He looked over at Baekhyun, the eldest, the leader of their new group and one of the most experienced. He hoped Baekhyun was calm and knew what to do.

Because he sure didn’t.

Meanwhile, Kai was elated. 

He was going to finally meet up with his friend Jimin again, maybe swap idol stories, chat, have drinks and just. Vibe. Taemin and him had shared excited looks at the news, but quickly repressed them when the others expressed frustration. It sucked, this industry of constant competition. He wanted to create art with people he liked. It sucked that Jimin was so far away all the time. Would he remember them? Had he become starstruck?

Kai didn’t know why those thoughts made his heart clench. No. They were friends, Jimin would still like them. He had to believe that.

Kai had seen BTS succeed in areas anyone else had yet to reach. They had started to set the standard. He knew that they were breaking record after record. 

Although, he smirked to himself, he had the modeling game wrapped around his finger. That didn’t seem to be something BTS was interested in. They liked being the happy, sparkly charmers to most of the world, giving out love whenever and wherever. Kai didn’t always like being the sex symbol, but that was something he knew how to do, and if being uncaring with a too-cool-for-you-attitude was what he had to do to upstage the little angel- 

Wait. Where did that come from?

He had no idea, but it made something inside him burn. 

Well. That’s a feeling he was going to deal with later. 

They pulled up to the sound check stage, their staff moving their luggage to their suites. 

Baekhyun steps forward. 

“Remember, guys. They work just as hard as we do. We should keep this friendly, and be good sports. We’re here to put on a show. Maybe gain some fans. Most importantly, we showcase our talent and our passion. We are the Avengers of K-pop, facing down our biggest threat. Let’s give them something to look at.”

They walk into the building holding onto the confidence they have and preparing for a showdown. 

Of course, it’s a little early for this talk, they have a day to rehearse. But there is no reason they couldn’t be in the right mindspace beforehand. 

Kai takes one last look outside at New York, wondering where they were. Where he was. How things would go. 

Why were there butterflies in his stomach?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yee yee it's christmas break which means it's time to write all my feelings out
> 
> who's excited for our favorite guys being dudes?

When Jimin inhaled the air of the studio, his nerves calmed. The scent of music studios was familiar to him and made him feel like everything was going to be okay. His best friends, his everything were beside him. 

Looking at the other members made Jimin realize he wasn’t alone. 

Getting reacquainted with the Not Today choreography again was fun, the boys slowly clicking back into the routines they knew.

Jungkook shouted his line of ‘chong, jojun, balsa!’ with such conviction that it echoed across the soundproof room. Jimin was impressed. 

The thumping of their feet as they rehearsed over and over again became rhythm and routine, all thoughts of their opponents cleared of their mind. Some of the producers had some questions which Namjoon fielded expertly, but other than that it was smooth sailing. 

They exited the studio to get back in their vehicles, a few nosy paparazzi snapping some photos as they walked the streets of New York. 

Things were calm, they were fine, Jimin thought to himself, as the vehicles pulled up in front of the luxury hotel.

A few hotel staff recognized them and said hello, but the check in went without incident. That is to say, they kept the chaos to an absolute minimum. There was only one swiping of Hoseok’s room key, followed by Hobi chasing down the culprit (Jungkook), and a swift reclaiming of the room key. 

So Jimin was about ready to hit a hotel bed and pass the fuck out. He was tired, and jet lagged. He wanted to curl up in soft sheets and sleep. As Taehyung was his assigned roommate, he felt like there would be no issue. 

He was a bit disgruntled to find out that, even though this was a five star hotel, the ice machine was still down the hall of the rooms. 

Taehyung made him go get some ice. 

Which is where Jimin was, at the ice machine grumbling to himself, when he saw an old friend much sooner than expected.

“Park Jimin? You guys are staying in this hotel too?” Jimin turns to see Kim Jongin, wearing silky red sleepwear and holding an ice cup. His heart skips a couple beats.

“Hey, uh, hi Jongin!” Jimin stammers, caught off guard. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” Kai says, leaning against the ice machine. 

“Not really…” Jimin trails off, trying to act professional and friendly but all these confusing  _ feelings _ keep happening. 

He quickly picks himself up, saying, “I mean, we’d probably run into each other at some point, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.” He forces a small chuckle at the end of his sentence. 

Jongin’s face falls. “Are you not excited to see me?” He looks like a kicked puppy and Jimin knows he fucked up just a little.

“No! No, that’s not it. Just…” He sighs. “Jet lag.” He moves to give his friend a hug.

“It’s good to see you again, Jiminie.” Jongin says, murmuring into his ear accidentally, making the smaller man shiver.

“Y-you too.” Jimin relaxes, rocking just a little before they pull apart. He was warm. 

There was this unspoken realization between both of them that some things would be left unsaid. Like how they couldn’t stop thinking about holding each other, or how the other looked with their hair messed up. That wasn’t something they should focus on.

Ten tense seconds pass in the hallway. Then Jongin gets a text.

- _ dude, what’s taking you so long to get ice? _

“I… have to go. See you soon, angel.” Jongin says, before turning around and heading towards the elevator. His ice cup was empty.

Jimin gets ice and hurries back to Taehyung.

“Taeeee. Help.” Jimin says, putting the ice down and flopping on the bed Tae had chosen, ignoring the perfectly made bed also in the room.

“What took you so long?” Tae asks, tilting his head.

“SuperM is staying in this hotel too.” Jimin whines.

“How did you- oh you saw one of them in the hallway, didn’t you?” Tae says, confused as to why Jimin of all people was affected by their arrival. He was friends with Kai and Taemin! Taehyung reminds himself to chat with Baekhyun at some point and catch up.

“And? Did one of them try and kill you?” He asks when the previous question gets nothing but a muffled groan in return. 

“No, he’s just hot. Like, really hot. Like I want to do something stupid tonight hot.” 

“That’s their thing, Jimin. And your ass is toast if Namjoon finds out you fooled around with one of them. So just ignore the bait.” Taehyung flips through TV channels trying to settle on one that didn’t rely entirely on English dialogue for their plot. “Which one did you see, anyway?”

“Jongin. Kai. The one I hang out with who should be banned from wearing red pajamas.” 

“Wait, your friend? Dude. Dude, no. That’s not something you can just undo.” Taehyung says, noticing his friend’s friendship was in jeopardy. 

“I don’t want to ruin it, but these feelings have stayed stagnant for a long time. Every time I see him on stage I want to have him take all that energy out on me. I’m not in love with him, that’s not what it is. I just really, really want… something physical. Like friends with benefits.”

Taehyung grimaces. “How many of those have worked?”

Jimin thinks to their group dynamic. They were all somewhere between friends with benefits and lovers. He has no idea how the rest would react to him starting something with Jongin. 

Would it stay that way? Would Jimin be able to keep his heart out of the conversation?

“Taehyung, every time he looks at me I feel like he’s staring at my bare soul.”

“Jimin, don’t be an idiot. He’s doing that to get inside your head.”

“It’s working. I can’t stop thinking about him.” Jimin groans, resting his head on Taehyung’s shoulder.

“Then think about what’s right in front of you.” Taehyung says, moving to kiss Jimin’s hair. 

A couple of moments pass as Jimin cuddles into Taehyung. It’s nice, and gives them the grounding point of each other in a still unfamiliar world.

Tae kisses Jimin on the mochi cheeks he loves so dearly, giving his hyung the affection he obviously craved. It turns into something soft, smooches shared under a dying sunlight streaming through their windows and wrapping each other in love. 

It’s Taehyung that pulls away and asks, “Can Jongin do that?” 

Jimin blushes, getting the point. “That’s not fair, you know how to make me unravel.”

He feels a twist in his heart. Just because he had Taehyung and the rest of BTS didn’t mean there weren’t feelings for Jongin too. Those feelings were different, curiosity, a bit of fear, a challenging spirit to take him down on stage and off of it-

“Do you think he’d be down for a threesome?” Jimin asks. 

“Park Jimin, you are an absolute trainwreck of a gay disaster.” Taehyung smacks him with a pillow. This quickly devolves into pillow fighting and they almost forget to order dinner. Almost.

With his stomach full of various American specialties (reminder to never let Taehyung near curly fries again), Jimin goes to sleep, Tae beside him. 

  
  


Tomorrow was a big day. They had a lot of work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to clarify bts isn't exclusive, they're kinda loosely together but they haven't realized they all love each other more than the world and they don't quite know how to make themselves work as a relationship
> 
> and also some other guys are starting to make them rethink things


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok gets exposed, Namjoon makes conversation with the enemy.
> 
> implied spice! and some nsfw discussion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the person that commented on my last fic- here's the chapter i had in storage, maybe my inspo for this will come back soon

The morning Namjoon woke up to, he expected it to be some sort of chaotic, they did have an appearance that evening, and that was normal. The maknaes were whispering in a circle, listening intently to their youngest tell a tale, which received gasps from Taehyung and Jimin, their eyes flickering over to Hoseok. Namjoon didn’t hear what they had said, and was confused. He tilts his head over to look at their sunshine. 

What he saw threw him even further into confusion. 

This was definitely morning after Hobi. But to Namjoon’s suprise, none of the others seemed the same way. They agreed after one too many ‘stress relief’ sessions that they would help each other with their… unique needs as they saw appropriate, which was something Namjoon had an absolute field day dealing with the boundaries of. 

They were a band with benefits, they decided, with benefits including the typical sex, but also more domestic things like group dates and birthday suprises. 

There was one problem with this plan, exclusivity. None of them were particularly interested in being ‘in a relationship’ even though that’s basically what they did, nobody liked putting a label on it. After a few interesting kink discoveries and _lots_ of communication that this was okay but they needed to know, it was agreed upon that everyone could have flings with ‘hall passes’ if they felt the need, for instance if one of their heroes wanted to spend some quality time with them, they were allowed to partake in romantic and sexual activities with them. As long as they immediately spilled the tea with the rest of them. If Shawn Mendes ever responded to Jimin’s drunk DM, they wanted to know. 

So this shouldn’t be too difficult. Right? Hoseok was going to tell them anyway.

“Looks like you had fun, Hoseok!” Namjoon teased him and gently slugged his shoulder.

Hoseok winced. “Not so hard. I’m sore.”

“Spill all the juicy details. I’m sure the gossip hounds over in the corner have some theories.” He glanced at their youngest group. 

Hoseok let out a long suffering sigh. “I fucked Taemin hyung.”

The room goes silent before erupting with questions.

Jin was the most shocked, Yoongi’s eyes were wide open from where he sat on the chair, and the maknaes looked at Jungkook. 

“I know. I heard you guys.” Jungkook looks just as guilty, for some reason. 

Namjoon tries to process what he heard. Lee Taemin? From Shinee? The one that so many idols saw as a veteran, almost, who was experienced and funded and had so many other options-  
  
Why Hoseok?

“I heard when you guys mentioned me, too.” Jungkook said, staring directly at Hoseok. “I heard you say ‘or maybe Jungkook will come in with that fucking camera of his to film you.’” The maknae’s ears were red. 

“Shit.” Hoseok said, backed into a metaphorical corner. His eyes narrowed. “How the hell were you that close to hear?”

“I was up late playing video games- stop looking at me like that- and I heard someone yelping and groaning so I investigated and got a whole lot more than I bargained for.” Jungkook was now tapping his foot anxiously. 

“How much did you hear?” Hoseok asked, voice level.

“Enough to know that both of you namedrop during sex. For some reason.” The maknae won’t meet his eyes.

“Did you stay to hear more?” There was an edge to his voice that made the room fill with tension.

“That’s not important. We know he has a voyeurism kink. What we don’t know is why Taemin, you know, our supposed rival, would agree to any of what Jungkook just described.” Namjoon steps between them, but the tension is still there. 

“That’s my fault.” Jimin says, raising his hand guiltily. “I bragged about you guys in our group chat. The one with Taemin, Kai, and some other friends. Speaking of Kai, he was totally making eyes at me last night and if Hobi hyung is allowed to smash someone from the other team I call dibs on Jongin-” 

Namjoon facepalms. “No! No, that’s not what- why- both of you?” He stares in exasperation at the ceiling of their common room, a nice little place at the end of the hall where they could, in theory, relax. 

“Well, well, well. Looks like Bangtan beat us to the breakfast bar.” Namjoon snaps his head toward the voice. 

“Baekhyun. Good morning.” Namjoon says flatly, not trusting his intentions at all. 

“Good morning, Hoseokie.” Taemin wiggles his fingers at Hoseok, who shot him a glare in return. 

The two groups disperse with some chatter, Namjoon’s conversation forgotten.

The leader of SuperM sits down with a blueberry scone and crosses his legs. “It seems like we have some things to talk about.”

“If you see it that way, don’t let me stop you.” He was irritated, but didn’t want to be disrespectful.

“There were events that transpired last night that were good for two of us and mildly uncomfortable for the rest of us.” Baekhyun begins to explain before Namjoon cuts him off. 

“Since when was there a ‘we’ and an ‘us’? I keep a handle on my group, you do the same. I’ve got things handled on my end.” He tries again to shorten the conversation.

“But you don’t, or Taemin would have been in some club instead of in your member’s dorm.” His tone wasn’t accusatory, no. It was something different. Triumph?

“Hoseok is his own man who can make his own decisions, and it’s not my place to tell him who he can or cannot hook up with. At the same time, we must be extremely careful how we conduct ourselves.”

“I was thinking the exact same thing. Why push an overused rivals narrative when we could be kind, friendly, and flirty with one another?”

Namjoon is confused. "We can't flirt on television. Like, how could that possibly end up well?"

Baekhyun rests his arm on the top of the couch Joon is sitting on, reaching over to stroke tiny bits of the hair near his neck. 

"It would stop the annoying fan wars. Don't you want your fans happy?"

  
  


"They won't be happy knowing this is probably a set up for publicity. There's no way your company will let you." Namjoon's stomach is churning. This... thing was batshit crazy. What was Baekhyun thinking?!

"Consider this: we start out as rivals. Angry, in each other's faces, ready to take down our enemy. As the competition goes on, we can't help but notice how _talented_ we are, our own ambitions crumbling. " Baekhyun sounds like he's purring, a cat playing with a disgruntled wolf. "It's a lesson, a message, showing that everyone has talent, and everyone deserves to be loved for it. Fan wars don't matter. You'd love a message of acceptance and positivity, wouldn't you?"

Namjoon exhales. Why? Why this route? "As long as it stays friendly. And I mean that by American standards."

"Eh, they already expect us to be a little gay, can't hurt to be a little touchy."

"Yes, yes it can. We're trying to break stereotypes."

"Maybe you are. I'm trying to cause crises of sexuality."

"Can you not try and seduce someone for like, ten minutes?" Namjoon is aware that it was a little mean. He's starting to not care. 

"Sorry. Company programmed it into me, you feel? Controlling my youth and all that." Baekhyun flashes a grin.

Way to guilt trip him.

  
  


"Okay. So we end on good terms. What after?" 

"I wouldn't be against it if some of us wanted to hook up. You guys /are/ attractive."

"Baekhyun- no, what if someone found out-"

"Then both of our careers would be changed. I say changed because nothing could take you guys down. If only, it would make you stronger."

"What logic-"

"You underestimate your influence. Do you know how much power you have?"

Namjoon didn't feel powerful right now.

Namjoon sat up, looking Baekhyun in the eyes. “Maybe I would feel more powerful if you weren’t trying to trick me into something to make your group look better.”

“Joonie, this benefits all of us. And the best part is, nobody that doesn’t already know about it has to! I promise this is a secret that is going to be kept.” He smirks, still in the game.

“I can’t trust you. How do I know you’re not trying to blackmail us?” His eyebrows are narrowed, trying to figure out Baekhyun’s end goal. 

Baekhyun leans forward, close enough that Namjoon can see his eyes trained on him.

“Because,” he whispers, his hand resting on Namjoon’s thigh, “if word got around that world leader Kim Namjoon got it on with a silver voiced twink outside of his other twink friends, it would be just as bad for said twink.” He bats his eyelashes. 

“Who said I was hooking up with you?” He’s trying to keep his heartbeat to a minimum.

“You think I have a silver voice.” He gloats, as Namjoon sighs in frustration. He was good.

How was it none of his members had come over by now to rescue him? He sweeps his gaze across the room and sees his bandmates engaged in various levels of conversation, Taehyung murmuring with who Namjoon recognized as Ten and Taeyong, Jin discussing something with Taemin, and Jimin and Kai- _cuddling_ \- on a couch. He shakes his head to get rid of that thought, to see Yoongi asleep on the couch across from them, and Lucas, Mark, and Jungkook laughing at something on Tiktok.

“You fox.” Namjoon looks back at Baekhyun, a victorious smirk evident on his face.

“The great Kim Namjoon, the day before a performance, and he’s upset by a little hook up. What a prude.”

Namjoon scowled. “I’m not a prude.”

“Prove it. Let them be free for this week, do what and who they want. Try to keep the leashes on them loose. Then, maybe, people will start seeing you as someone kinder and more chill, maybe providing future opportunities and collaborations. It’s not fair to keep the current top group in the world-” he says this with venom, he notes,”- in some sort of glass case that nobody else can touch.”

“I- Fine. I’ll let them go this week. Not like I control them anyways…” Namjoon trails off.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rehearsal. Jin and Joon talk things out.

Namjoon kind of regrets having his conversation with Baekhyun. Because now he was responsible for telling the rest of his members that ‘of course you can hook up with them!’ with a completely serious demeanor. If they didn’t already want to before, this announcement could actually end up making this worse.

His wheels were turning as they all went back to their rooms to change for the first rehearsal, with giggling in the hallways signifying new friendships. Jungkook, Mark, and Lucas seem to have gotten along surprisingly well, with the three of them laughing at some dumb meme Mark had on his phone.

He called them all to his room to sit down before they went to change.

“So, as some of you are already aware, there have been some activities going on in this hotel that we did not expect. I’m not upset. Just gonna put that out there.” He holds up his hands in a peaceful diplomatic gesture, looking over at Hoseok, who had a grimace on his face.

“Baekhyun and I had a discussion, and we agreed it would be beneficial to our onstage chemistry and also shoot down fan hate if we got along.” Namjoon starts, unaware on how to proceed.

What was he supposed to say,  _ And Baek thought the best way to do that was to let us all fuck, which is okay with me! Go crazy! Go stupid?  _

“And by getting along…” He continues, looking at his mates. Yoongi and Jin were skeptical and confused. Hoseok was grumpy. Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook were all listening intently, with excitement poorly hidden in their posture.

“He has given the go ahead for  _ covert _ hookups between us if that’s something any of you are interested in.” Namjoon sighs, watching the maknae line immediately exchange high fives.

“Really, you three?” It’s Yoongi who says this, rolling his eyes. “For what it’s worth, Joon, I’m not grumpy or anything, I just think this is kind of ridiculous. I mean, do we really need to hook up with them when we’ve been using the fact that we can’t hook up with anyone else as an excuse to why we hook up with each other?” 

Silence falls at the embarrassing truth.

“I mean if you’d rather get it all out with one of us, I can understand that,” Namjoon says, trying to cover for the very exposed truth of  _ we could fuck other people if we wanted to which means we’ve been hooking up  _ _ because _ _ we want to, _ which was kind of a terrifying thought.

“And if you want to hook up with someone else you admire, I can understand that too.” he says, looking at the maknaes. “Remember the rules we set, though. Safe, sane, consensual, protected.” He rolls his shoulders, tired from sleeping in the wrong position last night.

“What are we looking at in terms of who brought supplies?” Namjoon asks, causing a race to find who had a bottle in their bags.

They ended up with three bottles of lube and 17 condoms, most in a box Taehyung had brought.

Namjoon makes a request for travel sized empty bottles, saying that shampoo needed to be split between them.

_ “Do you want us to pick up shampoo as well, Namjoon?” _ the voice on the other line says.

“No, no, it’s fine, we just need the bottles.” he says quickly, trying to save the situation.

They end up changing and heading to rehearsals, Namjoon checking to make sure they all have what they need. He didn’t know if anything would happen, but he wanted to be prepared if it did.

The stage outfits they got for this stage had been dropped off at the rehearsal studio, where they all oohed and aahed over it during a water break.

“Hyung, look, I have a giant sparkly black necklace!” Taehyung says to Jin, showing off the necklace that was almost a turtleneck.

Namjoon looked at the black ball cap he had been given to contrast his current blond. It looked kind of cool. 

“Which way am I supposed to wear this?” he asks the style noonas, who apparently had an ongoing argument about it. He spent the next ten minutes getting his hair messed up by the hat going on and off his head.

They all left to fuss over how Jungkook’s cloth belt should be styled, when Hoseok came to greet him and yanked the hat down over his brow as a joke, the whole bill of the hat askew.

“Perfect! Just like that!” one of them exclaimed, the rest quickly agreeing. 

“I can barely see!” he said, laughing. He spotted another hat, similar to the one he wore in the Boy With Luv music video, but it was black.

“What about that one?” he asked, pointing to it. 

Five minutes later and the ball cap was put on the table, the noonas reworking the outfit to be a little less sporty and a little more classy.

They went back to rehearse a few more times, working with stage presence on false cameras, mimicking the set up for the next day.

“Great work, you guys!” Namjoon said, grouping them all in a sweaty post rehearsal hug before they leave to shower and change out.

They hear some more chatter from a different hallway and Namjoon’s gut drops. No.

“Hey, Mark? What does calling someone a clown on Twitter mean?” he hears someone say, looking over at the entryway to a different rehearsal hallway where SuperM was exiting from.

There’s only a few seconds of peace before the two groups spot each other and wave, Jungkook going to talk with Yukhei and Mark, Jimin chatting with Jongin, and Taehyung rushing over to say hello to Baekhyun.

Eventually they all disperse, Namjoon rubbing his temples with his fingers. Why? Why did this have to be so messy?

“Hey. Joon. Can we talk?” Jin asks him as they’re about to claim showers.

“Sure, what about?” Namjoon says, stomach lurching. 

“I noticed you’ve been stressed ever since Baekhyun talked to you this morning, did everything go alright between you two?” Jin says, crossing his legs on Namjoon’s bed.

“I guess? I think this whole day’s just been weighing on me. This is a lot of pressure.” Namjoon admits, coming to sit down next to him.

Jin starts rubbing his back in solidarity. “It’ll be alright, Namjoon. I get it. This whole thing is making me a little nervous too. But we aren’t doing it alone. We’ve got the rest of Bangtan. And for us to succeed, we’ve never really needed any more than that. We’re gonna be okay. This won’t change how Army sees us and it will only make us look friendly. We can play nice with others, but it won’t change how we make our music. We’re still BTS. That won’t change.” 

Namjoon breaks into a soft smile, reaching over to hug him. “Thank you, Seokjin. Somehow you always know how to make me feel less worried.”

“Maybe some good old common sense could help clear up that whirlwind in your head.” Seokjin jokes. “Joon? No matter who ends up banging who tonight, they still look up to you and respect you as the leader. We…” Jin trails off for a moment. “We will always care for you.” 

“Jin, it’s… It is kind of about that, actually. I thought the plan we agreed on was fine, but I’m starting to think I went wrong somewhere.” Namjoon puts his head on his knees, groaning.

“What do you mean?” Jin asks.

“I think I should have made us exclusive.” he says with a sigh.

“But we didn’t make us exclusive, for situations… actually exactly like this.” Jin says, a realization imminent. “Joon, you made that rule because you didn’t want to keep us from a good time. Why would that change now?”

“Because I’m kind of jealous. Of them. And now that I think about it, I’m jealous of the way the others can just let go and hook up like that. I… I just want to be able to let go.” Namjoon’s shoulders droop.

“You’ll be okay. I promise we’ll all be okay. Namjoon, I want you to do you. Do things that make you happy.” Jin says, kissing him on the cheek. “We worked out us, what’s the harm in letting that work out too? If anyone can handle this issue, it’s us.” 

“Jin, I hope for the sake of us you’re right.” Namjoon says. 

**Author's Note:**

> i've decided to briefly pick this fic back up after i've fallen into the superm hole again kim jongin if you're out there fuck you for wrecking my bias list


End file.
